Masa Crepes with Chard, Chile and Cilantro

No doubt it was due to the fact that I have to spend what feels like my thirtieth work day in a row attempting to clone my gene-of-interest into a lentiviral vector that not only likes to recombine in strange and unusual ways once it is transformed it into bacterial cells so that even though it seems like you have a whole plate full of positive colonies. Really. You have none. Which you learn after you mini-prep FIFTY OF THEM. (Ugh.) But also likes to randomly degrade itself every other time you try to digest it, sending you on a wild goose chase looking for some nuclease-contaminated digestion ingredient that may or may not exist.

Fun times.

To those in science. I know you feel my pain. Please send good cloning karma my way.

To those who have no idea what I just wrote…basically I have this circular piece of DNA and I want to put the DNA for the gene that I’m studying into that circular piece of DNA, so I have to cut open the circular piece of DNA and paste in my gene. Which is much harder in practice than it is in principle because in experiments like this, whose success rely on every condition being absolutely perfect at every step…everything that can go wrong. Does. And you never have any idea why. So all you can really do is try. And try. And try again. Ever. And anon.

Until you’ve finally pulled all of your hair out in the process and delegate cloning responsibility to your summer student while you go on vacation for a week. Maybe she’ll have beginner’s luck. We can only hope.

Otherwise…neither of us will have any hair on our heads by the end of the summer. And we won’t have our vector either. Awkward.

Which brings me to the other thing I find equally as frustrating as molecular biology.

Pancake-making. Tough stuff.

I know most of you are shaking your heads right now and half of you are going to unsubscribe from my blog because who in their right mind would take cooking advice from someone who finds making a damn pancake to be an unsurmountable task!? It’s okay, I understand.

But in my defense, I have tried countless recipes. There have been buttermilk, greek yogurt, and ricotta varieties. I have tried greasing the pan with olive oil and/or butter and/or oxygen. To no avail. Whatever I do, they are dense and slightly charred. Every time.

The last time I made them, The.Boy. suggested (in the sweetest way possible, of course) that I invest in some Bisquick. After I finished throwing up in my mouth a little bit at the thought, I vowed then and there that I would someday make a perfect pancake (without the aid of any boxed mix, mind you). Even if it costs me every hair follicle to do so.

You can degrade all of my DNA and dense-ify all of my pancakes. But kill my spirit, you cannot!

So, crepes. They are French, which should without a doubt make them infinitely more complicated than pancakes.

And yet.

I somehow managed to make ten of them. All perfectly thin with a slight fluff. Not a single burnt bit in sight. Hallelujah.

And then I stuffed them with an utterly delicious swiss chard, caramelized onion, monterey jack cheese mix.

Pancake success story. In my mouth.

I highly recommend making them. Today. So that even when your cloning attempts fail for the six hundredth time this month…you can at least have crepe-making under your belt. And really…that’s far more impressive anyways.

Put all the ingredients for the crepes in a bowl and stir until smooth.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add the onion, chiles, and oregano and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cilantro and cook for a few minutes more, then add the chard and cook until wilted. Season with salt to taste and cook until chard is tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the greek yogurt and turn off the heat.

Heat an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup crepe batter into the pan and swirl around so that it forms a thin layer. Cook until mostly set, about 1-2 minutes, and then flip. Cook for another ten to fifteen seconds and remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter, stacking crepes on the plate as you go. Spread half the crepe with the chard, add a little cheese and then fold the edges together so that the crepes form a half moon. If desired, serve with a jicama cucumber salad dressed with some lime juice and a hint of chipotle chile powder.

You are reading this post on Eats Well With Others at https://joanne-eatswellwithothers.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and or owner of Eats Well With Others. All rights reserved by Joanne Bruno.

This looks and sounds wonderful. I’m with Colleen—there is never a bad use for swiss chard, but this sounds especially excellent.

True confession: in the photo, I thought those were French fries on the side! I wasn’t sure that would be your style, so I reread the recipe and saw that it is jicama and cuke salad. Much healthier and more unique choice…and more you!

I read that 1st paragraph 3x. Kept reading and was like “oh thank goodness, she’s going to explain.” Ya, um, that didn’t help. I’ll be needing some of these crepes so I can feel good about myself again.

Hey Joanne I am sticking with you! The only pancakes that turned out really well are the corn pancakes that my mom used to make for us….and she use Jiffy Corn muffin mix. What can I say!!! I have to make these and I mean today. I have masa and chipotle chile powder, just need some sort of milk besides coconut milk. I love crepes! Nice job! Hang in there! 🙂

Yum, yum YUM! Love that the creeps are made with mass harina. Haven’t tried that before. Good luck with the gene thing. Makes my head hurt. P.S. I have a decent pancake run through on my pineapple upsidedown pancakes post. One trick is grease pan with 1 pat of butter and a T of canola oil. Alton says stir pancake batter 10 times no more…I usually do 12 or so. Leave lumps…

I have been eying this recipe since I got this cookbook for Christmas. D even flipped through it got to this page and said “I think I might actually eat that.” That’s a pretty good compliment for any recipe coming from a man who eats mostly bread and cookies.

I hope it all works out with your experiment–I have a good friend who has her PhD in Microbiology and I listen to stories like this all the time. It’ll all work out eventually.

Oh, I feel your pain about the lab work. But on the positive side, when you do job interviews, you’ll have great examples demonstrating problem solving and persistence in overcoming challenges! On to the food – I’ve actually never made crepes before. They intimidate me. But I love the idea of crepes filled with gorgeous fresh veggies, so I’m going to have to try!

ugh. I feel your cloning pain…spent three weeks just trying to move one construct into another vector…good luck!! sometimes a vacation/break from the bench is just what you need to bring the mojo back 😉

These look amazing! I’ve never used masa in crepes before. (Er, actually I’ve never made crepes at all–must get on that soon, because I love them). The combination with chard and cilantro sounds perfect!

Had to laugh at your intro…just when I was thinking WTF is she talking about, you explained it in lay terms. Apparently you can’t clone, but can read minds 🙂 The stuffed crepes look delicious. So much so that I may make the filling and stuff it in some hollowed out zucchinis and throw on the grill. Hope your student has some cloning luck! Did you make the fries BTW? Baked? They make me want fries right now!

I have no idea what that cloning business would be like but it sounds incredibly frustrating! I’m sending good cloning karma your way, and good pancake making karma! Though I agree with you about crepes vs. pancakes .. Everyone seems to think crepes are so hard but I find them easier than pancakes – they cook so quickly and there’s no guessing when they’re done. Love what you did with yours!

Most of my friends are scientists because DFJ is one and they talk about that stuff all the time. They would stay late at work on Friday nights to get these cultures done so they don’t have to go back to the lab in weekends and I hear endless complaints but relief to not have to work on a Saturday. Lol! Love these corn crepes… This never crossed my mind, coz I would never have thought that masa harina can be worked out tu turn fluffy and soft.

Hey Joanne! Your crepes look utterly delicious!! Funny I actually just made some crepes myself too! But seeing how yours look so wholesome, hearty and healthy, I guess I might have to revamp my thoughts on my own crepes! haha.. And for the record, I don’t believe you can’t make decent pancakes if your crepes look so perfect!! 🙂

SO absolutely scrumptious!! I’ve been eating chard like nobody’s business this month. I get huge, glossy bunches of it at the Farmer’s Market and it makes me happy just looking at it. So much goodness. 🙂

Is it wrong that dense and slightly charred pancakes sound good to me? Your crepes look even better though – I have only made crepes a few times and been amazed at how well they come out – I agree that it doesn’t seem right! Love the filling too – savoury pancakes/crepes are awesome

Your science stuff is doing my head in. what a challenge. I’d be so mentally drained I wouldn’t be able to tell if a pancake was burnt or raw. Lovely meal to cheer yourself up after a hard day in the lab though xx

Joanne I am sure glad that you got these pancakes down this time around. I would hate to see you without any hair if we ever run into one another,LOL. These look fantastic and the swiss chard in a crepe with caramelized onions is a winner in my book. I love this idea.

I was secretly hoping you had tried the masa crepes from Bean by Bean.. I have a grand plan for them but haven’t yet tackled making the crepes yet… But tell you what, when I make them, I will let you know.

I’m a chronic pancake ruiner but my troubles come with flipping them. They always end up on top of each other! I guess with one crepe in a pan maybe I would be more successful. These sound deeeelicious!

Aww, I feel your pain. This is why I gave up on biology. And physics and chemistry, I was AWFUL at experiments, and we had to do error analysis. This is why all my effort is going towards math. It won’t get me anywhere, but I love it WAY more than doing experiments that don’t go my way. Congrats on the crepes! They look delicious, I LOVE savory crepes

these must’ve been delicious, b/c i’m drooling! bisquick has a special place in my heart b/c i grew up on it, but it’s still tough to see myself using it 😉 i’m currently dealing with an assay that is just as finicky as your cloning project, so i totally feel your pain. hang in there!

I pretty much just learned how to make pancakes this year (well, can you say you learned if you just suddenly started being able to do it by accident?), but I somehow mastered crepes before, too. So weird! These look awesome, and the filling options are endless. Can’t wait to make these.

Have you tried whipping the egg whites separately before folding them into the pancake batter? That usually makes for some really airy, fluffy pancakes. But I know what you mean — so many pancakes are just OK. It’s rare to come across ones that really take your breath away. 😉

These look wonderful! I love making crepes, but have never thought to do it with masa harina… And your filling sounds awesome! My girlfriend and I both love kale, but she (thinks she) hates chard… I think this might be THE RECIPE that will get her to change her mind. 🙂